


A Complication Not Considered

by GretchenSinister



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Background Poly, M/M, Multi, OT4, in background - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22500577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "Toothiana’s had a thing for Jack for a long time, built largely on rumors, stories she’d heard over the decades from other legends and spirits, accounts of run-ins some of her fairies have had with him, and maybe even a glance or two of him now and again. When she actually meets him and gets to know him better it only gets worse, turning from interest in a genuine, full-blown infatuation. She really, really likes him.Tooth’s feelings for Jack have never been a secret to the other original Guardians, and their strengthening is similarly obvious to the three of them. They’ve never said anything about it because it’s never been a problem.Until recently, when Jack begins to show interest in one of the other Guardians and they can’t help but find themself feeling similarly.What do they do? Reject Jack out of loyalty to Tooth...[cut for length]"I haven’t written as much OT+ as I have to take this prompt as written. So have an angsty version of that ‘verse. Jack confesses his love to Sandy but explains that he knows that Tooth liking him may cause tension. Sandy doesn’t get it until he slowly realizes that when Jack says he loves him, he means only him. Distressing!
Relationships: Jack Frost/Sanderson Mansnoozie
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18
Collections: Cold Gold Short Fics, RotG Polyamory Fics





	A Complication Not Considered

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 10/28/2016.
> 
> Here's the rest of the prompt: ", or start seeing him even if it means hurting her feelings? Either way someone is going to get hurt, and things between the Guardians are liable to get tense…
> 
> The other Guardian can really be any of the others, so long as they are, y'know, one of the other Guardians. Jack is my little black dress of this fandom."

“And, the thing is, I really don’t want to hurt anyone,” Jack said, looking down to where his and Sandy’s hands were joined.  
  
Sandy nodded encouragingly. It wasn’t immediately clear to him how that sentiment related to this particular moment, but it was still a good one.  
  
Jack smiled at him—a little smile, a wondering smile. It was a beautiful smile, and Sandy’s heart leaped to have been given it. He squeezed Jack’s hand and Jack’s smile grew. “But if you think I’m worth any of the, the conflict, or the tension, that might come from this, then—how could I do anything else but brave it with you? Because you’re definitely worth it.”  
  
Sandy shaped a question mark. His understanding of spoken language couldn’t be that garbled, could it? That was definitely an odd thing for Jack to say, wasn’t it? What conflict was he talking about? What tension? These last two questions he signed for Jack.  
  
“Well,” Jack said, glancing away, “I know that Tooth likes me, and not just because of my teeth. I know she really means it. So if I’m with you, that’s obviously going to hurt her feelings. I wish that it wasn’t going to be that way, but….”  
  
You won’t be with me at every moment, Sandy signed, that would be impractical. He _was_ missing something, wasn’t he? He needed to observe awake people more often.  
  
“That’s…no, what I meant was, if we’re together, if we’re….” A blush grew on Jack’s cheeks. “If we’re lovers. Since I can see that the rest of you are so close-knit, it seems like there might be some sort of fight, or, at the very least, some uncomfortable moments.”  
  
Sandy looked curiously at Jack. Wait, he asked, are you saying that by confessing your feelings to me, Tooth has lost her chance with you forever?  
  
“Well, of course,” Jack said. He sounded embarrassed now. “Do you—I mean, have I still not been clear in what I’ve been saying to you? Oh, no, I knew it was too good to be true!” He took his hand away from Sandy and covered his face with his hands.  
  
No, Jack, I—I thought I understood—do you not like Tooth? That would make me sad if you didn’t, but I thought you got along, Sandy signed.  
  
“Now I’m confused again,” Jack said. “I do like Tooth, and I do get along with her. But with you I’m talking about who I—who I love. And I choose you, Sandy. Only you, no matter how friendly I am with anybody else.” He took both of Sandy’s hands. “You’re special to me, more special than anyone else.” Jack looked down. “I hope I made everything clear that time.”  
  
Sandy nodded, and when Jack looked up to see if he was saying anything else, he found Sandy wearing a concerned expression. Oh. Well, Jack had never expected this to go smoothly. Seeing Sandy looking like that probably meant that he finally understood. And he still hadn’t let go of Jack’s hands. So that had to be good.  
  
Jack, I do understand now, Sandy signed. There was just something I was overlooking. I was so happy to hear that you loved me that I forgot what kind of problems there could be. He smiled a little sadly. I didn’t expect you to think of me in such an exceptional way. And, no, not for any of the reasons you might be thinking of, he added, as Jack opened his mouth to defend Sandy’s worth. I see now how Tooth’s feelings for you and your feelings for me might prove difficult to work out within the circle of the Guardians. He pressed Jack’s hands. I know this may sound odd coming from me, but I think that before we call ourselves lovers, we need to have a conversation with the other Guardians. There’s…history that you need to know. And we all should be there to talk to you about it.  
  
Jack laughed nervously. “Well, I’m glad to hear you’re happy that I love you, but, wow, that idea of a talk is making me really nervous. Can you at least give me a hint of the history? It sounds like you’ve all become each other’s exes or something over the years.”  
  
Sandy shook his head and quirked his eyebrows. No, we’re not all each other’s exes, he signed. But will you let me go and get them now? I don’t want you to spend too much time worrying.  
  
“Well…all right,” said Jack, and as soon as he reluctantly let go of Sandy’s hands, Sandy gathered his cloud and soared away out of sight.  
  


* * *

  
  
Tooth! Sandy rushed into her palace, finally letting his distress show. Jack confessed his love to me, but—it’s not a hopeful sign like we wanted—I don’t think—I don’t think he ever considered the possibility of loving more than one person at once—and what if he can’t?  
  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Tooth said, wrapping her arms around him. “Or, well, it might not be, but we don’t know yet.”  
  
But we’ll know soon, Sandy signed, I told him I needed to get everyone together so we could talk.  
  
Tooth sighed and nodded. “I guess delay would be pointless, wouldn’t it? All right, let’s go get North and Bunny.”


End file.
